Ali Stroker Bio, Age, Oklahama Wheelchair, Glee, Tony Award 2019, Movies, TV Shows

Ali Stroker Biography

Ali Stroker is an American actress and singer. Stroker is the first actress who uses a wheelchair for mobility known to have appeared on a Broadway stage and also the first to be nominated for and to win a Tony Award.

She was a finalist on the second season of The Glee Project and later appeared as a guest star on Glee in 2013. Stroker played the role of Anna in Deaf West’s 2015 revival of Spring Awakening. Stroker won the 2019 the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Oklahoma!

Ali Stroker Age

Ali Stroker was born on June 16, 1987 in Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S. She is 31 years old as of 2019.

Ali Stroker Glee

Stroker made an appearance in the 2011 short film, I Was a Mermaid and Now I’m a Pop Star. She auditioned for The Glee Project in 2012 and was cast for the 12 episode series. Stroker made it to the final episode and placed second, earning a guest role on Glee, playing Betty Pillsbury, Ms. Pilsbury’s niece, in Season 4, Episode 14 “I Do” She was a finalist on the second season of The Glee Project and later appeared as a guest star on Glee in 2013.

Ali Stroker Bisexual

Stroker identifies as bisexual and previously dated Dani Shay, fellow The Glee Project contestant.

Ali Stroker Early Life

Stroker was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey to Jody Schleicher and Jim Stroker, as well as an older brother, Jake and a younger sister, Tory. She went to Ridgewood High School, where she was senior class president and starred in school musicals.

At the age of two Stroker was in a car accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the chest down. Because she is unable to walk, Stroker uses a wheelchair. At the age of seven she saw her first Broadway show and decided to become an actress.

Stroker trained with the Summer Musical Theater Conservatory program at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. Ali became the first actress in 2009 who uses a wheelchair to earn a degree from the New York University Tisch Drama Department, with a degree in Fine Arts.

Ali Stroker Career

Stroker has had solo performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and New York’s Town Hall in addition to concert performances at Lincoln Center in New York City. She starred in the Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Later, Stroker reprised her role in this show at Philadelphia Theatre Company and that performance earned her a Barrymore Award nomination.

Stroker made an appearance in the 2011 short film, I Was a Mermaid and Now I’m a Pop Star. She auditioned for The Glee Project in 2012 and was cast for the 12 episode series. Stroker made it to the final episode and placed second, earning a guest role on Glee, playing Betty Pillsbury, Ms. Pilsbury’s niece, in Season 4, Episode 14 “I Do”.

She had a role in the 2014 film Cotton together with Gary Cole. In 2014 and 2015, she had a three episode role playing Wendy in the MTV series, Faking It. Stroker made history in 2015 by becoming the first Broadway actress who uses a wheelchair to appear on a Broadway stage. She originated the role of Anna in Deaf West’s 2015 revival of Spring Awakening.

Stroker was cast as Tamara in the 2017 ABC show Ten Days in the Valley. She played Ado Annie in St. Ann’s Warehouse’s critically acclaimed revival of Oklahoma in 2018! The production transferred to Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre in 2019, earning Stroker a nomination and a win for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. This made Stroker the first person who uses a wheelchair to be nominated for and to receive a Tony Award for acting.

Ali Stroker Advocacy

Stroker is a co-chair of Women Who Care, which supports United Cerebral Palsy of New York City. She is a founding member of Be More Heroic, an anti-bullying campaign which tours the country connecting with thousands of students each year. Stroker has gone to South Africa with ARTS InsideOut where she has held theater classes and workshops for women and children affected by HIV and AIDS.

Ali Stroker Movies

  • 2011 I Was a Mermaid and Now I’m a Pop Star Party Girl
  • 2012 The Glee Project, Herself
  • 2013 Glee, Betty Pillsbury
  • 2014 Cotton Jeanie
  • 2014–2015 Faking It, Wendy
  • 2017 Ten Days in the Valley, Tamara
  • 2018 Lethal Weapon, Nina
  • 2018 Drunk History, Judith Heumann
  • 2018 Instinct, Ella

Ali Stroker TV Theatre

  • 2011 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Olive Ostrovsky Paper Mill Playhouse
  • 2015 Spring Awakening, Anna Wallis Annenberg Center
  • 2015–2016 Brooks Atkinson Theatre
  • 2018 Oklahoma!, Ado Annie St. Ann’s Warehouse
  • 2019 Circle in the Square Theatre

Ali Stroker Oklahama Wheelchair

Ali Stroker makes history as first person in a wheelchair to win a Tony Award

Source; cbsnews.com

Performer Ali Stroker made history at the 73rd Annual Tony Awards Sunday night, becoming the first person in a wheelchair to take home Broadway’s most coveted trophy. She won the Tony for best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical for her role as Ado Annie in the revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”

During her acceptance speech, Stroker took the time to recognize any children at home with a disability who have dreams to be in show business: “This award is for every kid who is watching tonight who has a disability, who has a limitation or a challenge, who has been waiting to see themselves represented in this arena … You are.” She also thanked her “Oklahoma!” “family,” parents and friends, among others.

Stroker was injured in a car accident at 2 years old and said she’s been in a wheelchair since. With an “unbelievable” support system, including her parents, she has been able to pursue her passion after being introduced to musical theater at age 7.

“Performing for me has been a moment where I felt like I was my most powerful self, and so I became hooked. I just wanted to be on stage,” Stroker told “CBS This Morning” during an interview in May. “Growing up in a chair, I was used to people staring and looking at me, and, you know, that was difficult. And then when I got on stage, people were staring and looking at me for the reason that I wanted, and I felt powerful.”

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